“The _ceri_, or tapers, which resemble golden towers, are the tributes of the most ancient possessions of the Florentines, and according to their rank they proceed one after another to offer them to S. Giovanni, and the next day the tapers are all stuck up round the inside of the church where they remain until the next feast-day, when they are removed and used for the altars, and some are sold by auction. After the tapers a marvellous quantity of large wax candles are offered, some of a hundred pounds weight, some of fifty or less, carried by the peasants belonging to the villas from whence they are sent. Then the Masters of the Mint offer a splendid taper, borne on a richly adorned car drawn by a pair of oxen whose loin-cloths bear the device of the Mint, and the said Masters are accompanied by about four hundred venerable men, all matriculated in and belonging to the Guild of Cloth-weavers. The last to make offerings are the Signori, the Priors, and their colleagues, with the Podestà and the Captain, in great pomp with many servants, and so many instruments, fifes and trumpets, that the whole world seemed to resound. After the Signori had left, all the horses that have come for the race are presented, and then the Flemings and Brabanters--weavers of woollen cloth--who are in Florence make their offering; and lastly, twelve prisoners, delivered from gaol for love of God in honour of S. Giovanni, are offered to him. When all this has been done, men and women return home to dine, and in all the city that day are so many marriages and great banquets, with innumerable fifes, music, songs, dances, and gaiety, that it seemed as though the place was Paradise.”